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Latest Update | Home |
| Jeff's World Tour - Project Chevy |
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| Time for me to have a
little automotive entertainment. We went to an auction for a guest
ranch that had been sold and was being repurposed, thinking we might find a
nice second sofa. Instead, I found this new toy. 1969 C30 Camper
Special. As I get time and money to work on it I will update the site with new pages but this is a long-term project. I plan to do every bit of the work myself (except machine work on the engine) and I'm doing this on a pretty tight budget. At best I can spend about $200 per month so as we get further into the project I may go a couple months at a time with no progress while I save up to buy expensive parts. Initial purchase Sept 2008. |
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| Front bumper - thrashed | Bed sides are pretty straight. Although the wood floor is rotted beyond use. | Grill and headlight surrounds will need help. | Rear bumper - a little embarrassing. |
When I first saw it I expected a Blue Flame six with a 3 on the tree. As I got a little closer I realized it was a V-8. Then I got close enough to see the valve covers and realized it was a big block. 396 cubic inches of pre-smog control goodness with a column shift automatic. The auctioneer opened at $1000 but nobody bit until he got down to $300 and I raised my hand. One other guy bid $350 and it was knocked down for $400. The brakes are a bit dodgy, we put in some fluid and pumped for a while and they were good enough to let me drive it home but it was a nervous, back roads, 20 mile trip.
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| This is obviously a truck that was used as truck. No fancy cleaning routine. Start it-use it-park it; put gas in every now and then. |
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It took two applications of engine degreaser to get it into shape to even start working on the engine compartment. |
She's pretty rough - life on a ranch isn't the easiest way for an old pickup to spend time - but the body is mostly straight and pretty rust-free. The starting sequence is 'pump fool out of the gas pedal, crank for five seconds, repeat as necessary' but once that BBC finally roars to life it's a good strong powerplant. The first project will be to get some lights working - we currently have no working lights on the rear of the truck and that's kind of a problem. Next comes a carb overhaul, electric fuel pump and an upgrade to HEI ignition. Long-term this will be sort of a restification project. I'd like to go electric on the doors and windows, shaved handles and all.
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Drivers side door needs some work; it got hyper-extended so the sheet metal is torn out where the top hinge attaches. | Very much a work truck, when the seat cover got too ratty on the passenger side they just put another one on top of it. |
The seats are spring suspended - Air-Ride, I guess? - and it's got the fold down box in between the seats. Unfortunately, the extra spot in the driveway was occupied by a 1993 Buick Regal that needed to be sold so I had to keep her in storage for a few months until I got that resolved. Finally drove her home in March 2009.
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